Port Wentworth police on Friday arrested a man who allegedly stole a gun from his mother's home before being caught beer-in-hand running from a nearby residence he’s also suspected of burglarizing.

Richard Bruce Salyer Jr., 37, of Port Wentworth was arrested on a slew of charges including two felony counts of burglary, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, tampering with evidence and theft by taking.

Shortly after 1:15 p.m. Friday, police were alerted to an alarm going off at a residence on Gooseneck Court in Port Wentworth. After noticing no cars in the driveway, the responding officer rang the doorbell and quickly went around to the back of the residence, said Sgt. Steven Holmes, Criminal Investigations Division commander at the Port Wentworth police department.

The officer saw Salyer coming out of a back door holding a Blue Moon beer, according to a police incident report. When asked for identification or proof of residence, Salyer went back inside the home, according to the report.

The officer heard the front door shut, and ran around the house to see Salyer running with the beer still in his hand through neighboring yards. Holmes said the officer tackled Salyer nearby and took him into custody.

While Salyer was handcuffed, he said there were three people with guns inside the residence. The officer called for backup and moved Salyer in front of his patrol car while he watched the residence. It was later determined through review of the car’s dash camera that Salyer removed a handgun from his pocket and kicked it into a storm drain, Holmes said.

Though a search of the residence revealed no other people, Salyer told police that other people were with him and that they made him carry the gun.

Holmes said it was determined Salyer took the pistol he kicked into a storm drain from his mother’s house earlier in the day. His mother was not home when the gun was taken, Holmes said, and did not give Salyer permission to be in the home. He was charged with a second count of burglary in taking the pistol.

Two TV remote controls from the house on Gooseneck Court were in Salyer’s possession at the time of his arrest Friday, Holmes said.

Friday was not Salyer’s first interaction with Port Wentworth police. In February, he was arrested after leading officers on a high-speed chase through the city in a stolen pickup. During that incident, Salyer reportedly rammed the truck into the pursuing officer’s car before continuing to flee and eventually crashing the truck into trees. Empty and full cans of Natural Ice beer were found in the overturned truck at that time, according to the police report.

At that point, Salyer was charged with aggravated assault on a police officer, theft, fleeing to elude and open container, among other crimes. Some of those charges are listed on Salyer’s current booking information on the Chatham County jail website, but Holmes said they were not connected to Friday’s arrest.

According to Georgia Department of Corrections records, Salyer was released from the Floyd County Prison on Oct. 6.

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